Posted on 06/26/2004 6:51:44 PM PDT by quidnunc
On the eve of an election that will at least superficially change the complexion of Canadian political life, no matter what the result, I won't bother repeating how I think you should vote: it will be obvious to anyone who has been reading me. American election campaigns are far too long (a necessary evil of fixed election cycles); our Canadian ones have become much too short. For whether or not we enjoy the spectacle (and I unashamedly enjoy watching politicians squirm), it is in our interests to make the course gruelling. Politicians should be put to the test, and judged through many ups and downs. They should never be allowed to sprint quickly past us.
A "snap election" is invariably called to give the incumbent an unfair advantage; to leave the "undecideds" with too little time to review the alternatives, and indeed, to discourage them from voting at all. When the election is called for the least convenient time of the year, when people's minds are fixed on vacations, this manipulation is compounded.
On the other hand, a government grown arrogant and too comfortable will sometimes receive a nasty surprise. It is part of the thrill of our first-past-the-post parliamentary system, that we do have the power to "throw the bums out". We should enjoy it while it is still with us, for I fear sooner or later we will land ourselves with some system of proportional representation, in which no matter how we vote we will get approximately the same coalition of self-serving fat-cats back in power.
The greatest weakness of the system we've inherited, is the way it concentrates power in the single person of the Prime Minister, with his whip hand over cabinet and caucus, and ability to make all major appointments. It was designed for a small and nimble state, with intensely competitive two-party races, and a trigger-happy electorate. It was intensely adversarial, as were our courts, as was our economy: for competition got us the best results, and we were adult and manly enough to handle it.
-snip-
(Excerpt) Read more at davidwarrenonline.com ...
FYI
I enjoy David Warren...when he's not writing about Canadian politics (yawn).
Excerpted - click for full article ^
FMCDH(BITS)
Moving to fixed elections and allowing free votes will go a long way towards fixing the "democratic deficit" in the Canadian political system. And Senate reform will serve as a check on the statist tendencies in the House Of Commons by giving Canada's provinces an effective voice in the federal government.
Can any informed person tell me whether the Conservatives actually have a good chance of winning?
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